It was a brutal weekend here in Rochester, and for most of the northeast for that matter. Parts of Rochester received over a foot of snow, and on my daily cat feeding route, it surely was a foot. It was very heavy, very compact snow. The storm began on Friday, and as I shoveled at home every hour on the hour, I knew it would be tough going for me the next morning. The same for the cats. But out I trudged, with 16 pounds of dry food - enough to feed over 30-40 cats, four containers of wet food, and four containers of hot water, and plenty of dry towels. And don't forget the shovel. At each of my 16 locations, I had to either shovel a path, if the shelter was close to the road, or trudge through trying to make a path in knee high snow to the shelter, and dig around that. These poor animals cannot even move in this. So I did the best I could. What normally takes me one hour in the morning, on a good day, took me nearly two and a half hours on Saturday morning. Phew. My back was breaking by the time I got home. Weak at the knees, for sure!
On Sunday morning, as I pulled up to Baldwin, where the two kittens that Laura rescued came from, and I believe two of their siblings still are, along with mom, I noticed that someone had shoveled two pathways around the shelter. I also saw torn bread. I thought to myself, oh my, someone actually cares about these animals! They shoveled a path from the sidewalk, to the shelter, and another cross path that the kitties run to when I come. I was astounded, and I felt so good. The three pictures below are of the shelter on Baldwin, and you can see the paths that were shoveled, along with the dry towel and food I place down.
As I got to a few other spots along the way, I noticed that they were shoveled! I thought, coincidence? Maybe this Tim that lives next door to the abandoned house on Pennsylvania was kind enough to shovel for Sparkles, very injured kitty, and emaciated Limpy #2, the kitties that hang there for me each morning? Then as I got to Central, I thought.............. LAURA! This is the kind work of Laura! She had e-mailed me asking if she could help shovel, and as I wouldn't expect anyone to get up and help me do this, I told her no, but thank you so much for offering. I just couldn't believe it.
Not that Laura is a stranger to me anymore. She began as someone who was an expert trapper and was enlisted by Julie from Another Chance Pet Rescue to help in my Lollipop TNR endeavor last spring/summer. I didn't really get to know Laura until recently, and I adore her now. She has been a big help in trapping kitties for me, and to think that she selflessly went out and shovelled a few of my spots, well, its overwhelming. I can't tell you how many wonderful people I have met throughout the years I've been feeding/sheltering and rescuing cats. Just yesterday, neighbors that I barely know dropped off a couple of cats of wet food. She told me she knew I did some kind of cat thing in the mornings, but didn't know the extent to which I do. In fact, it still blows my mind how long I've been doing this. And how much I still rely on the kindness of my fellow human beings, to show me a little recognition in that what I am doing is good, and to help me in any form they can.
So thank you! Each and every one of you! XO!
Todays blog is a "feel ggod " Janine, thank you for sharing. As for Laura, she should be officially Cannonised by the church, but to all of us she is already a Saint. Much love to you both.
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